Daily Links: Pickett Risk/Reward; Happy 90th Steelers

Happy 90th birthday to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The franchise was founded on July 8, 1933. Art Rooney Sr. paid a 2,500 franchise fee for the club. He had named his new team the “Pirates” which was also the name of the city’s long-established Major League Baseball club of which Rooney was a fan since childhood.

Since the league’s inception in 1920, the NFL had wanted a team in Pittsburgh due to the city’s already-long history with football as well as the popularity of the Pittsburgh Panthers football team, an NCAA national championship contender during this period. The league was finally able to take advantage of Pennsylvania relaxing their blue laws that prior to 1933 prohibited sporting events from taking place on Sundays, when most NFL games take place.

🏈 Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett was the most prolific in the NFL when it comes to throwing into tight coverage windows in 2022. According to research by Judah Fortgang, Pickett was the starting quarterback that threw into tight windows the most often last season — by a large margin. He and Davis Mills were the only players over 19%, while some like Lamar Jackson and Justin Fields were under 10%.

But Pickett also had success with that strategy. In addition to throwing into tight windows the most often, he also created the most separation with the placement of his throws. Over 20% of the time, his placement on tight-window throws opened up more space for his receivers. Only Andy Dalton was also over 20%, while some players like Fields and Matt Stafford were under 5%.

🏈 The 33rd Team: The Steelers have been the sixth-best road team since 2013, posting a record of 44-36-1 (.549).

🎂 Happy Birthday to former Steelers linebacker and Hall of Famer Jack Lambert, born on July 8, 1952 in Mantua, Ohio. Lambert was selected by the Steelers in the second round out of Kent State in the 1974 NFL Draft. Lambert would go on to have a decorated career, winning four Super Bowl titles with the Steelers in the 1970s and earning a ton of personal accolades. In his 11-year NFL career, all with the Steelers, Lambert made nine Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro six times. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1974 and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1976. In addition, he’s a part of the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade Team, the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade Team, the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team and the Steelers Hall of Honor. Lambert was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

🎥 With it being Jack Lambert’s birthday, Old Time Football shared the iconic moment when Lambert tossed Cliff Harris to the ground after he pated Steelers kicker Roy Gerela on the head after he missed a field goal attempt in Super Bowl X.

Happy Birthday Jack Lambert
Cliff Harris gives Gerela a pat on the head after he misses a FG attempt in Super Bowl X, Jack Lambert isn’t having any of that and chucks him on his ass.#Steelers #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/uFCdhjujMd

— Old Time Football 🏈 (@Ol_TimeFootball) July 8, 2023

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Pittsburgh Sports Now: Where does Pitt stand in relation to college football’s blue bloods?

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